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Hill blasts Hughes´ QPR signings

20 May 2013 16:52

Clint Hill has criticised former QPR manager Mark Hughes and the players he brought into the club following their Premier League relegation.

The central defender was part of the QPR side that won promotion with Neil Warnock and survived their first season in the Premier League, but he has criticised the work done by former manager Mark Hughes before the start of the current season.

Hughes brought in seven players in August, four of whom had never played in England before and Hill believes that was too many to try and integrate at once.

"I'm not sure what the manager (Hughes) was thinking of," he told TheDaily Telegraph. "Many of those arriving needed time to adapt not only on

the pitch but to a new language and a new culture so it was always going

to be difficult.

"I'm just not sure what the manager (Hughes) was

thinking at the time trying to integrate so many new faces.

"The lads that were recruited have won European Cups, Premier Leagues and FA Cups, you name it.

"Those

players needed to come in and give us help because their experience was

invaluable but for whatever reason it just didn't click. Whether

we were playing the wrong system I'm not sure.

"You need players with

good ability and skill in any team but you also need a few dogs of war

to battle and I don’t think we've had the right mix from day one so

that's been the most frustrating thing really.

"Some players have come in from some of the biggest clubs in the world

where they've been used to having a lot of the ball so it's foreign to

them when they're spending huge parts of matches digging in or having to

defend."

Despite the changes at the club, Hill was not critical of the wages the newer players were handed by Hughes and chairman Tony Fernandes, but he was disappointed that they did not live up to the expectations their salary would suggest they could meet.

"If you can get 60,000 pounds or 70,000 pounds a week, fair play. But what you need to do to justify that money is show an effort, a spirit, and togetherness on the pitch," he added.

"What players get wages wise has never been an issue to me for as long as I've been in the game.

"People get different money for different abilities but you need to show 100 per cent effort on the pitch no matter what you earn, be it, 5,000 pounds, 10,000 pounds or 60,000 pounds."